Fame Brief: Is Salvia the New Four Loko?

Another person who wasn’t watching the finale of The Apprentice last week? Miley Cyrus. Instead, the 18-year old Hannah Montana wacktress took a break from her usual routine of grinding on stripper poles and groping in 21-and-over clubs to take bong hits at her birthday party at her L.A. home. TMZ has the whole episode on tape, and I urge you to watch, as it will make you nostalgic for dorm parties and WinAmp.

When you heard this news (it broke a week ago; I work full-time, cut me some slack), you were probably as shocked and outraged as I was that such a wholesome young starlet could betray her fans by doing illegal drugs. But just about as you were about to un-follow her on Twitter, “a source connected with Miley” — i.e., her GENIUS publicist — saved the day, announcing that Miley’s activities were perfectly benign: “According to a source connected with Miley … the smoke filling the bong is a natural herb called salvia which has psychedelic qualities.”

PHEW. Because when you work in Hollywood, you tell all the coke dealers to scram and buy fake drugs instead.

But what is salvia?

And more importantly, how did we get so OLD? From Wikipedia:

Salvia divinorum (also known as Diviner’s Sage, Ska María Pastora, Seer’s Sage, and by its genus name Salvia is a psychoactive plant which can induce dissociative effects and is a potent producer of “visions” and other hallucinatory experiences.

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So pot, basically. And, “luckily” for Miley, it’s legal for minors in California to possess salvia, but illegal to provide it to them.  Hopefully Miley’s dealer was a minor too, and then the entire situation can be completely free of impropriety.

In 2002, federal legislation that would make salvia a controlled substance under the Controlled Substances Act was proposed and later died; now, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration is currently studying the drug to see whether it should it should be classified as a controlled substance. ‘Til then, pop in The Wizard of Oz, turn on The Dark Side of the Moon and party on, Wayne.

Obviously, Miley raised salvia‘s profile in the U.S. Everybody’s been discussing the incident, including Miley’s own father, Billy Ray Cyrus, who tweeted that he was “so sad” about it and also for making Achey Breaky Heart. Now that people know about the drug and are debating whether it should be legal, the question is: will Salvia become the next Four Loko?

Miley Cyrus Video — Partying with a Bong [TMZ]
Salvia divinorum [Wikipedia]

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